Paul Lewis studies the determinants and effects of public policies, and the way people think and make judgments about policy. Much of his published work has examined urban development, community change, and local policies toward immigrants. He is the author of Shaping Suburbia: How Political Institutions Organize Urban Development (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1996), coauthor of Custodians of Place: Governing the Growth and Development of Cities (Georgetown Univ. Press, 2009), and coauthor of Policing Immigrants: Local Law Enforcement on the Front Lines (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2016). His research has appeared in Economic Development Quarterly, Housing Policy Debate, Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Policy History, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Journal of Urban Affairs, Law & Policy, Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Social Sciences, State and Local Government Review, and Urban Affairs Review, and in several edited volumes and policy reports.

Lewis's research has received funding support from the National Science Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. Prior to his current position, he was one of the original group of research fellows at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he worked for nine years. He has served on editorial boards for Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Urban Affairs, and State and Local Government Review. He has considerable experience conducting and analyzing elite surveys, having administered surveys to various sets of local government officials on nine occasions.